Heather: Paul beat up Linda as well

Heather Mills has outrageously alleged that Sir Paul McCartney used to beat up his first wife Linda - a claim that even her own supporters say puts a question mark against her honesty.

The former model's extraordinary claim follows the publication of explosive divorce papers alleging that Sir Paul had attacked her with a broken wine glass. She threatened to repeat it in court.

A close friend told The Mail on Sunday: "She told me that he did to Linda what he did to her. She says that staff of Paul's told her that Linda had also suffered abuse."

The home Heather loathed

Click on right-hand image to see Heather's striking fashion choices since her divorce battle with Sir Paul heated up: A rock 'n' roll t-shirt with the slogan 'Love Kills Slowly', a black top designed by American tattoo artist Ed Hardy accompanied by Stella McCartney boots and a classic green velvet jacket.

The allegation sickened friends of Sir Paul, who said the war of words between the couple had now reached a new low. His marriage to Linda was famously loving and there is no evidence whatsoever that he ever attacked her. Even friends of Ms Mills admitted the claim would make her look ridiculous.

Already Ms Mills' honesty was being called into question yesterday. The Mail on Sunday has learned she has told friends that police were called on several occasions during fights with Sir Paul - but police appear to have no records of such incidents.

This newspaper can also reveal Ms Mills will make an application to the High Court on November 3 for the £1billion divorce case to be heard in open court. The full case is expected to go ahead next March. The latest shocking allegation appears to be part of Ms Mills' increasingly desperate attempts to justify the claims that she was attacked by Sir Paul on four occasions.

She has insisted to her friends she has evidence, yet there is a total lack of support for the bizarre claim that he attacked Linda.

"Vilest woman"

Writer and vegetarian campaigner Carla Lane, who was one of Linda McCartney's best friends, said: "That's nonsense. I haven't said anything about Paul since all this blew up but I can't let that pass. I was very close to Linda and I know she would have confided in me if anything like that had happened. It's just not true."

Sir Paul's former publicist Geoff Baker said: "It's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. How long is it going to be before she falls into the sewer that she seems to be making her home?

"Everyone knows, and it goes without saying, that Paul and Linda had one of the happiest marriages in showbusiness. In my opinion, Heather Mills is now making a bid to become the vilest woman in Britain."

And a close friend of Sir Paul's said: "It's a horrible thing to suggest and Paul will be very upset. He doted on Linda and she doted on him. It's just not in his nature to do that."

Another added: "This is ridiculous. This is a man who gets distressed if he steps on an insect."

A friend of Ms Mills, 38, said the pressure of the divorce was now taking a huge emotional toll on her. She was suffering from alarming mood swings and insomnia, and making increasingly outlandish - and sometimes contradictory - claims.

Sir Paul was married to Linda for 30 years and they reportedly only spent a week apart until she died of breast cancer in 1998. He insisted she played in Wings, the band he formed after the Beatles split, and doggedly defended her against any criticism.

Sir Paul has also continued to support all the causes she espoused, including maintaining her range of vegetarian food, founding a cancer clinic called the Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool and donating £1.5million to hospitals that treated her. His latest work, Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart), is a choral piece composed after Linda's death.

"Looming divorce"

The court documents leaked last week alleged that Sir Paul, 64, had subjected Ms Mills to four violent attacks, including pushing her over a coffee table, shoving her into a bath and stabbing her in the arm with the broken glass.

The papers lodged by Ms Mills' lawyers also allege that he had broken his promises to stop smoking marijuana, that he called his wife an "ungrateful bitch" in front of their staff, that he tried to prevent her breastfeeding and that he stopped her from buying an antique bedpan which she wanted so that she did not have to crawl to the lavatory in the night.

The claims will be vigorously contested in the High Court by Sir Paul's lawyers, and the first battle comes on November 3, when Ms Mills' lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, will make the highly unusual application for the case to be heard in open court.

A legal source connected with Ms Mills said: "She wants to lay bare everything that happened in the marriage and make sure everyone hears her side of the story. She told me she's got medical records that back up the claims of violence against her.

"She's got witnesses who have given her statements and she says she has admissions from Paul but I don't know in what form. It's certainly not audio recordings."

Despite the increasing acrimony, Ms Mills and Sir Paul had been in touch with each other every day, by phone and text message, to discuss two-year-old Beatrice's care.

Many people would find it astonishing that Ms Mills would be on such cordial terms with a man she said lunged at her with the stem of a broken wine glass.

A friend said: "Heather calls Paul and tells him how much Bea is missing him and that she loves her daddy, and Paul does the same for her when he's got Bea. She's been getting texts from him all the time. Until last week they had remained on good terms despite the looming divorce battle."

Domestic violence

The last text she had from him was around 9am on Wednesday, the day the documents were published, when he sent her a message saying: "I just found some pictures of you when you were pregnant with Bea".

Since then, there has been no contact between them and friends of Ms Mills are saying he has withdrawn her security, in retaliation. Those close to Sir Paul deny this.

A friend said: "She pleaded with him to keep security, particularly for Bea's sake, but he told her, "I don't want Bea growing up spoilt. None of my kids had protection when they were growing up and I want Bea to grow up in the same way."

"Heather then told him she needed security because she is being pilloried in the street by people and has serious concerns over her safety."

Heather has now hired her personal trainer Ben Amigoni to be her security. "She can't afford any security of her own, other than Ben", the friend said. "She's really struggling financially because Paul froze her bank account."

Of her claims that police were called during alleged domestic violence incidents, Sussex Police - the force that covers two of the homes the couple shared - confirmed to The Mail on Sunday there was no record of 999 calls.

Meanwhile Sir Paul's legal team have been studying a book written by Ms Mills which seems to contradict many of the claims in her court documents. And in an interview with Michael Parkinson in 2003 she contradicted her claim that she is expected to prepare two dinners for her husband and Beatrice every night.

She said her husband brought her breakfast in bed every morning, and she had an agreement to do the dinner. An official spokesman for Sir Paul declined to comment.